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Monday, July 7, 2008

Eff Grey's Anatomy

I just watched the first two episodes of ABC's six-part series Hopkins.

Pretty amazing stuff for regular network television. I've been transfixed. No other fictional medical drama even comes close to this reality docudrama.

Hopkins chronicles the lives of several doctors and is mesmerizing, not just for the coverage of the medical stuff but also for the glimpse into the doctors' personal lives. One family is in the beginning stages of being torn apart by a cardiothoracic surgery resident's long hours.

So heartbreaking hearing the little daughter's perspective.

That hit home for me. My father was always at the hospital during my childhood. He was gone so much that we used to joke that he was with his "other family."

To quote The Smiths, that joke isn't funny anymore.

My parents ultimately divorced much later when I was in college. There was a whole host of issues, but I don't doubt that my father's work priorities had a little something to do with it.

There is so much that is impressive and uplifting about Hopkins, though. My favorite character so far is Dr. Boyle, the first female urologic surgery attending at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is so positive and spunky and simply incredible at her job. Nothing fazes her. Vasectomies are child's play.

A close second for me is Dr. Quiñones-Hinojosa, who was once an illegal migrant worker. From such humble beginnings, he managed to go to Berkeley and then Harvard Medical School and finally UCSF for his residency. Now, he's a star neurosurgeon. Crazy awesome.

Regular episodes air Thursdays at 10 p.m. If you haven't see this show, go watch episodes online!

Ah yes, i missed the most recent episode, but saw the first one. I agree, love the urologist and Dr. Q-H. Love to hate the pompous, self-absorbed father and husband who works SUCH long hours, only to go to the bar on two hours sleep and hit on average looking women while his marriage slowly crumbles under the weight of his ego.

Is Dr. Q-H the one who bitched out his staff when they didn't give an appointment to that cancer patient? That was rad. I loved when the young doc got teased about not knowing what was wrong with his patient!

Mr./Dr. Insomniac and I watch that with great interest... we have a good friend who's just started his cardiothorasic fellowship. That's 7 years of general surgery + 3 years cardio, for those of you keeping track at home. The relationship portion is especially interesting... surgery is a different breed of medicine.